me no own anything but plot and Zephyr. No sue!
Just as a warning this chapter is a little slow. It is needed but there is not fighting or backbiting or anything action oriented...
Chapter 2 Hiding in plane sight
Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.
"Wait!" Robin runs and peers over the edge, his eyes scanning for her body. To his surprise he sees nothing, not even her flying off into the distance. He shuffles a little, kicking something. Looking down he sees a large round object. With a frown he recognizes it as the girls helmet. (Darn, must have dropped it…) Picking it up he turns and walks inside.
"What's that?" Beast Boy asks Robin when he reenters the living room.
"The girls helmet." Robin hands it to the curious green elf. The others gather around looking over his shoulder.
"Whatcha gonna do with it?" Beast boy asks, handing it back to Robin.
"Give it back." With a smirk he holds up a tracking device. A little red light moves swiftly across the screen.
"Friend Robin should we follow after her at this moment?" The pretty red headed alien asks, clapping her hands together.
"Naw, let's wait till morning."
Beast Boy shrugs. "Okay. Well, I'm going to bed guys. 'Night." He waves vaguely and heads to his room.
"I think that I shall be going off to the sleep as well. Goodnight friends." Starfire turns and floats to her room.
"Are ya sure you wanna wait till tomorrow?" Cyborg asks Robin, a frown on his face.
"Yeah."
"Okay man if you say so." Cyborg walks to his room, shaking his head. Robin watches him go.
"Raven, what did you get from her?" He turns and faces the dark beauty. She keeps her eyes pressed lightly shut.
"I got nothing from her."
"Could you tell if she has any powers?" (Oh yes. She has the power of extreme fluffiness. To the point were any boy would die immediately if ever he saw it.)
"And how would I know that? I'm empathic, Robin, not psychic."
"Fine, well I'm going to bed. Good night." Raven ignores him. Robin lets out a silent sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly before he turns and walks out of the room. Once he's gone Raven's eyes open. She gazes out the window her eyes hinting at a sadness that she can never let her companions see or truly feel. (Aw. What's the matter little birdie?)
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"Hey, guys! Look out your windows! Look! It's snowing!" Beast Boys excited shouting wakes everyone from their sleep. Cyborg pokes his head out of his door when Beast Boy bangs on it.
"Man, it's to early to be waking people up."
"To early? Dude, it's after 10! Everyone else is already awake!" (After 10?! Oh No! It's the apocalypse.) Beast Boy runs down the hall to the living room. Cyborg follows after him. They enter the living room to see Raven floating in a corner, meditating as usual. Starfire is in the kitchen, and Robin is lounging on the couch with a cup of milk in his hand. Cyborg walks over to him.
"So what's up with that girl?" He places both hands on the back of the couch.
"I think I should pay her a visit." Cyborg nods in silent understanding. They don't want to overwhelm the girl. (Dude, just one of them would be enough to overwhelm me.)
"Great, you do that man, but after breakfast."
"Sounds good."
"What should we have?" Cyborg asks, digging into the fridge.
"Tofu waffles!" Beast Boy pipes up.
"What?! That's disgusting. We should have eggs and bacon." There follows the traditional morning argument on the virtues of tofu. (I'm on the side of bacon meself.)
After having decided on pancakes and eating their fill the Titans file out to the T-car, Cyborg in the drivers seat.
"So where to?" He turns toward Robin who is sitting in the passengers seat.
"Head toward the north side of town."
"Sure thing man."
They wander around for a bit until they track the signal to an apartment complex. Following it carefully they stop outside of an apartment, # 227. (On a street near you!)
"Guys, you wait here." Nodding the others watch as Robin walks up the two flights of stairs to the apartment. Suddenly feeling nervous he knocks on the door, slightly disturbing the simple green wreath hanging there. He tenses in anticipation when the door slowly creaks open. To his surprise he finds himself face to face with an old woman. She is tall and holds her back straight, gray hair falls to her shoulders in waves. Her crystal clear blue eyes widen in curiosity at the sight of a boy dressed in a costume that looks more like a traffic light than anything else standing on the porch of her front door. (My eyes would widen too, just before I burst out in laughter.)
"Hello! You must be a friend of my tien eun's, please come in!" Robin reluctantly lets himself be ushered inside.
The inside of the house is cozy with a deep mahogany carpet. The walls are covered with photos and the green couch is large and poofy, just begging to be sat on. The matching chair and love seat look a little worn from constant use. An old rocking chair sits in-between the two smaller cushioned seats. The furniture placed circularly so that every person who sits on a seat can see all of the others without craning their necks.
"Please, take a seat," The woman gestures around the room at the various chairs and couches, "she shouldn't be very long in coming home, just went to get some things for me. Such a sweat heart that one is. She's told me all about you. I must say that I think it is truly wonderful what you are doing for those children. Truly wonderful." As she talks she walks into her kitchen and pulls out glasses from a cupboard, "Would you care for a drink? I have juice, milk, water, hot coco, and tea."
"Uh…some water, please."
"Oh no dear, would you like some coco?" (But didn't you give him a choice?)
"Sure." Robin shrugs. A huge grin splits the woman's elderly features as she scurries into the kitchen, pulling a bronze kettle from a cupboard. She goes about her way making the drinks for herself and the strangely dressed young man chittering about how community service is wonderful and how it's great that the school has started to volunteer. Robin wonders over to the pictures on the wall. Each one has four to five people in it, an old woman who is obviously the grandmother, a brown-haired, brown eyed man looking to be in his early forties, a woman with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, a little boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes, and a girl with reddish brown hair, in all of the pictures her eyes are pressed closed by a huge closemouthed grin. One picture in particular catches Robin's eye. This picture was obviously meant to be a fancy family photo.
The two girls are dressed in green and red velvet dresses, while the two boys are in suits. The man and woman look down at their two children. Robin can almost hear the laughter that must have been ringing from the parent's throats. The little five-year-old boy is looking up at the girl with wide eyes, adoration written on his face. The ten-year-old girl's eyes are squinted in a repressed smile, and her tongue is protruding from the side of her mouth in mock concentration. One hand is held under an armpit while the other is frozen in the motion of moving downward to make a very inappropriate noise. The undignified act caught forever in a frame.
"What a horrible tragedy." The voice makes Robin start as he looks over at the old woman leaning against the wall by the kitchen, her eyes looking into the past, as her mind must be too. (Could she be loosing her mind? It is a possibility folks!)
"Who are they?" Robin asks, already knowing the answer.
"My dear tien eun's family." Robin opens his mouth to ask another question when the rattling of the door handle catches their attention. A split second later muffled words float through the door and a foot pushes it open, revealing that the gently falling snow has upgraded to a storm. A snow covered teenage girl darts inside, shoving the door closed behind her.
"Grandma, there's a car in the parking lot with four people freezing inside it. Perhaps we could invite them inside for a bit-?" Her words cut off abruptly when she turns around and sees Robin. One eyebrow lifts as a corner of her mouth lifts slightly too. Robin takes this moment to get a good look at her. She's wearing green cargo pants and a turquoise turtleneck sweater. Her hands are covered with soft black gloves and clutch two soaked paper bags. Her features are small and pointy giving her a slightly elvish look. Her hair is a silvery white and falls to the center of her shoulder blades. With careful maneuvering she pushes her bangs out of her eyes with her arm. Her ears, cheeks, and nose are pink from the cold, making her sparkling dark blue eyes seem to glow.
"I suppose I'll be leaving you to each other. If you would bring the groceries in here, tien eun?"
"Certainly, grandma." As the girl walks past Robin, he notices that she is nose to nose with him in height. She walks over and places the bags on the cherry wood table, "I'm sorry about the bags, but they'd run out of plastic." The grandma waves her explanation away.
"It's of no account. Thank you, tien eun. Now, go and take care of your guest." The girl chuckles and turns to Robin. Motioning for him to follow her she heads down a hallway that Robin couldn't see from the front room. When she reaches a door at the end of the hall she pushes it open. Inside is an ordinary room. Its decoration is simple, in fact it's nearly nonexistent. The walls are bare and the bed is plain. The dressers have nothing on them except for a simple hairbrush. The only thing that makes this room seem to have been lived in at all is the desk stacked with papers in the corner. A soft click alerts Robin to the fact that the door has been closed.
"I hope grandma didn't frighten you?" (She sure frightened me.) The girl smiles and sits on the edge of the bed. Robin takes a seat at the desk chair.
"No, Tien?" The girl chuckles causing Robin to raise an eyebrow in a silent 'That's funny is it?'
"Tien eun is a Gaelic term meaning 'little one' it's my grandma's 'pet name' for me." (Silly little bird.)
"What is your name?" The girl looks at him in silence for a moment and her grandmother's singing voice drifts softly through the wood of the door.
"How about a trade? Your real name for mine, though I don't know why you didn't look it up." (Is that going to work?) Robin shakes his head. (Apparently not.)
"I can't do that."
"I know, didn't hurt to try though." The girl stares at Robin the small smile that seems to live on her face still present even though her face is closed in deep thought, "Zephyr. You can call me Zephyr."
"Okay, Zephyr."
"So, Robin, what brings you to my door, and your friends to my parking spot?"
"I have a proposition for you."
"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow.
"I would like to ask you if you would be willing to help the Teen Titans."
"Really."
"We could use your skills."
"It seems as though you're asking me a little soon, don't you agree? You did just meet me and have no idea if I'm a good guy or not. For all you know I could be a spy."
"Wha-" Raising on hand the girl halts Robin's words.
"I'm sorry but I don't believe it would work, there are…responsibilities I have that would get in the way with that kind of a job." Zephyr gestures vaguely in the direction of her grandmother's singing voice. Robin stares at the girl, thoughts hidden behind the mask.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I suppose that means I have to give you your helmet?" (Is it that obvious?) Robin raises an eyebrow at the smiling girl.
"If you would please." Pressing a button on his utility belt Robin pulls the helmet from a compartment. Her eyes widen in surprise before she shakes her head in self-mocking. (Honestly, she should have known.)
"I should've known." (Did I call it or what?) He hands the helmet to her, "Thank you." She in turn stands and walks over to the desk, startling Robin when she kneels next to him, "Now I shall return something to you." Pulling a drawer open she pulls a little device from it, it's red light blinking in a steady rhythm. Standing straight she holds it out to him.
"Thanks." Robin plucks the tracking device from the palm of her still gloved hand.
"You're welcome, now if you could leave please. I have homework to do." Robin nods politely, a smile playing across his face. Without saying another word Zephyr leads him to the front door, "Thanks for stopping by. I'll have the rest of those costumes for you in a couple of days." A quick gesture with her eyes alerts Robin to the gray head of hair poking from the kitchen.
"That would be great." Giving the girl a wave Robin leaves the house. She closes the door behind her and begins to head back to her room when her grandmother's voice stops her.
"Interesting costume the lad was in, what is it for again?"
"We've decided to make a play about the Teen Titans. That guy's going to be playing the part of Robin. He just wanted to show me the costume and get my approval."
"He was cast perfectly, tien. It's a little uncanny the resemblance he has to the real thing."
"Yeah… uncanny." She begins to head towards her room again when her grandmother's voice stops her for the second time.
"My love, you have yet to tell me what part you have in the play."
"Me? I'm…" her lips twitch into a larger smile, "backstage director."
Finally reaching her bedroom Zephyr closes the door lightly and turns to see, in slight surprise, a Teen titan communicator sitting quietly on her desk.
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All that just to get her a Titan's communicator? yeah, I can't do things the easy way!
Please rate and review! I know this chapter was a little slow with no action, but things like this just have to happen...
If you have any suggestions, compliments, insults... I would love to hear them!